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I have to say I am not entirely convinced by what I have been told. It's my experience that it's an all too common response to a computer problem to say that it's due to a virus.

I would be most grateful if you could give me your views on this and if there is a reason, why Zone Alarm had not detected these viruses.

I thought I'd also fill you in on why this came about.

I had a problem with my laptop yesterday when it would not start from sleep mode. The symptoms I noted was that the machine appeared to attempt to start the hard drive but could not. I could feel and hear the disk turning briefly and then after a 'ping' sort of noise it stopped. This then repeated.

I tried many things without success. Eventually I left the machine for 7 hours having removed the power and the battery (to stop the repetition). After this the machine started as normal. My thoughts were either a disk fault or over-heating. The casing gets quite hot.

This morning having done a back up of all my data I tried to replicate the problem but could not. The same happened in the shop.
The man in the shop, having heard the above, told me that some viruses cause this type of problem. Again I'm somewhat skeptical of this. I'd be grateful of your opinion on this as well.

He also told me that machines with AMD memory were prone to get hot.

When I collected my machine this evening it would not start on battery power even though this is fully charged. It did start on mains power. When I got home the situation was the same. The man in the shop's reaction was to say there may be a battewry problem. I'm not convinced of that either.

Re: Why were these viruses 'found' on my machine?

I would first ensure you are really free of malware. You can get volunteer malware experts review of your system at bleepingcomputer or spywarehammer. This way you will be sure that what you are experiencing is indipended from malware. Links to this dedicated websites are here:

Re: Why were these viruses 'found' on my machine?

Many times these "Shops" Will run some scanner that lists all kinds of things that are NOT viruses/trojans. They do this to scare you so you buy other software from them or pay for a removal or tuneup service they will perform on your PC.

Since nothing was listed we will assume it was just that and ZA did its job just fine and its just the "Shop" trying to make a bit more money off you.

Did you note the serial number of your battery before going to the shop? Maybe they accidentally put in a different battery than they one you had in the laptop. Sounds very fishy it worked fine on battery power until after your visit in the Shop.

Re: Why were these viruses 'found' on my machine?

I am back from my holiday in Australia and so have come back to this issue.

1. I tried to follow the procedure as described on the suggested link.

Step 1: set up full scan:
I haven't managed to complete this as I didn't find a 'computer tab'. I tried to see if there was an alternative way of doing this but failed.
My version of Zone Alarm is: 12.0.104.000
- from the home screen I clicked the 'View Details' in the Antivirus (left of 3) box
- on next screen I clicked 'Settings', bottom right.
- no computer tab shown. I went through all the tabs but did not find any reference to 'Set to Full Scan'.

Step 2: Reboot in safe mode with networking
I manged to complete this even though the instructions did not always match what was shown on my computer.

Step 3: run Full Scan
With my computer now in Safe Mode, I had Safe Mode showing on all corners of the screen, I re-started Zone Alarm. When I tried to run a Full Scan the screen appeared but the scan did not start. I tried all versions of running a scan, same result.

Once I am able to I am more than happy to carry out this procedure, however, I would like to question the relevance of doing this to my question as to why Zone Alarm did not find the viruses that the shop found.

A comment was included in the reply given about the shop which I did not all together understand. If it was suggested that the shop findings may not be legitimate I have also considered this. Now that I am back home I intend to go back to the shop and ask them about this. My thought is to find out what software they used that identified the viruses that apparently Zone Alarm failed to do so. I will update this thread when I have an answer, hopefully on Monday.

Re: Why were these viruses 'found' on my machine?

On the comment about the shop I made.

I'm not saying they didn't find anything but what they found are not all viruses.

Many times shops/repair services run scanners that list issues such as cookies, registry entries and such and they just lump all these finding as in as problems and make it sound like you PC is infested with terrible things.

If ZoneAlarm is running and is kept up to date with hourly AV updates then there is just no way to get hundreds of viruses on the PC as your shop is suggesting. Viruses verses cookies and registry entries are total separate and different things not related.

We are not going debate why your shop claims to find all these so-called viruses and ZA does not see the same problems on your PC.

Re: Why were these viruses 'found' on my machine?

I went back to the shop today. They would not tell me what software they had used. They did admit that they had found malware and not viruses.

I meeded them to sort out a hardware problem and was asked to leave my machine with them.

Whilst in possession they ran a scan using MalwareBytes and showed me that this had identified 850 infections. I have re-done this at home with the same result.

I was axxused of mis-treating my computer. I have not done so having only run 'normal; software, e.g. Windows Mail, Opera, AceMoney, Microsoft Picture Manager and VLC Video Player.

My question is does ZoneAlarm identify malware or should I also be running a malware specific program?

In a previous reply it was suggested I carry out a specific procedure to identify malware. I have replied that I tried to do this but had a problem which I hope I described in sufficient detail. Would it be possible for me to get some assistance with this?

Re: Why were these viruses 'found' on my machine?

Originally Posted by barry106

In a previous reply it was suggested I carry out a specific procedure to identify malware. I have replied that I tried to do this but had a problem which I hope I described in sufficient detail. Would it be possible for me to get some assistance with this?

With 850 infections your system will not even boot . Probably registry left overs adware and similar.

Then follow ALL the steps in the malware clean thread. If you are not able to perform ZA scan in SAFE MODE with networking then ZA has an issue with your PC configuration or your system has a problem and may not work correctly.

You have to provide screenshots and log as for now everything seems pretty much in the air.

Re: Why were these viruses 'found' on my machine?

I was afraid that the shop would not tell you what programs they used to identify theses issues.

This is my personal opinion and is not of Check Point or ZoneAlarm, this shop is shady and not on the up and up. If it was my PC I would go somewhere else.

MalwareBytes is an Excellent program and many times we suggest the use of it ourselves. MB targets specifically malware and targets the latest malware threats. Its not an all in one solution like ZA. Its a good piece of free software I'd suggest you use along side of ZA. MB does a great job at keeping current with the latest malware threats. Better than ANY OTHER general security program on the market I think. But you cant rely on it alone to protect your PC because MB is very specific on what it does.

Re: Why were these viruses 'found' on my machine?

Thank you for your continued support.

I have uninstalled, downloaded and installed ZoneAlarm according to your

suggestion.

I then tried to follow the malware instructions but as the re-installed Zone Alar was the same version as I had had already still had the same problem as previous. Rather than write here again about this I used the On-Line chat service.

The person I spoke to tried to help but said he was not familiar with the free version and I should use the forum.

Having had this chat I'm wondering if the instructions I am using refer to the paid for version and not the free version?

You asked for screen shots. I have sent 3 for what I did to try and follow the malware instructions.

I opened the ZoneAlarm monitor, Step 1a
I clicked 'View Details' in the left hand box, AntiVirus, Step 1b
I looked for the 'Computer' tab. Step 1c. I also looked at every item under all the tabs but did not find any reference to setting the scan type.

What should I be doing to follow step 1 of the malware instructions?

I was asked about log files. I have 2. One created by the shop which they say they cleaned all the entries. The other from my run of Malware. The sizes of both these exceeds the max . size. Should I submit part of these or how can I submit large files?

I agree with your comment about the shop. I won't be giving them my machine again. I do, however, wish to get to the bottom of the malware problem I appear to have. I have asked whether ZoneAlarm deals with malware and if I should also be using a malware specific program?